A Beginner’s Guide to Buying Gold Bars: 6 Essential Tips

Gold bars have been in existence for decades and centuries and mark a pretty significant investment option for people worldwide. However, when it comes to buying gold bars, there are a lot of factors that you have to pay attention to and prioritize.

If you are considering to buy gold bars, chances are that you wouldn’t regret investing at all. They pose as a pretty great option for individuals who want to tide through economic uncertainty.

With so many factors at play when it comes to buying gold bars, it makes sense that you’d want to pay close attention to factors as a beginner to ensure that you are making the right moves.

1. Start with your goals and your budget

Before you go ahead with purchasing your gold bars, you have to prioritize why you want to purchase them in the first place. What are your goals? Why do you plan on investing in the first place?

So, before you delve into the gold market and make the first purchase, you need to define your investment goals and have a realistic budget to work with. What are you considering? Do you wish to purchase for a short period or a long period to hedge against inflation?

Once you have an answer to these questions, you should be better able to navigate through the challenges and finalize the kind of investment that would be best aligned with your needs.

2. Research about the types of gold bars

Another factor that you have to consider before purchasing a gold bar is to define the type that you wish to invest. To be fair, some options are available in different sizes, designs, and weights as well. These are designed to meet your specific investment needs.

So, when you are going ahead with purchasing the gold bar, you have to browse through the available options, which include 1 gram, 5 grams, 10 grams, 1 ounce, and higher variants. Larger bars generally have lower premiums but may be harder to liquidate. Smaller bars, while more expensive per gram, offer greater flexibility in selling.

Depending on your investment requirements, you’d have to finalize the type of gold bar that would best align with your investment needs and also your goals in the future.

3. Verify the purity and hallmarks

If you don’t want to get scammed and want value for your money, it makes sense that you have to verify the purity and hallmarks. This includes the certification and the stamping that’s directly available on the piece of jewelry that you are buying.

For a gold bar, the standard 24 karats are considered pure gold, which consists of 99.99% purity of gold. However, if you aren’t buying the gold bar from a reputable seller, chances are that you might end up purchasing a gold bar with lower purity.

Look for reputable dealers and well-known hallmarks, such as those from reputable mints like PAMP Suisse, Royal Canadian Mint, or Perth Mint. These hallmarks ensure the gold’s authenticity and purity, instilling confidence in your investment.

4. Choose between new or pre-owned bars

Not many people know this but when you are considering buying gold bars, there is a choice for you to either buy a new gold bar or a pre-owned one. Like with any other element, even for gold bars, the premium on the new one is slightly higher compared to the pre-owned one.

The main reason for the difference in the price point is due to the wear and tear on the old one as opposed to the new one.

So, before you go ahead and finalize your purchase, what you can do is look into the kind of budget you have and the kind of resale value that the gold bar will have in the future. It is always ideal for you to go ahead and compare the prices before finalizing the purchase.

5. Always opt for reputable dealers

There are hundreds and thousands of online and offline gold bar sellers that you will come across. If you want to secure the best and most authentic deal from the purchase, it makes sense for you to always buy from reputable dealers, be it online or offline.

When purchasing gold bars, what you want to do is browse the market to find reputable dealers that have built a significant amount of trust in the market. Always look for positive reviews and proper certifications for the gold bar that you will purchase.

Also, if you come across deals that seem too good to be true, chances are that your gut instincts are correct and there could be something off about the dealer. Avoid those and look for a better alternative.

6. Consider storage and insurance

Once you buy the gold bars, the process doesn’t stop there. You have to consider the storage options too. The main objective behind this is to protect your investment in the long run. So, not only do you have prioritized secure storage options, but you also need to prioritize the insurance as well.

We’d recommend that you opt for professional vault storage services to ensure that your purchase isn’t going to waste and you are getting your money’s worth. Also, when you are picking the insurance, ensure that it covers all the relevant aspects and threats that come with keeping precious metals like gold.

When you are considering purchasing gold bars, it is quintessential that you pay attention to the market trends and the economic conditions too. Sometimes, you should delay the purchases instead of rushing into things.

Conclusion

Purchasing gold bars comes with a lot of considerations, especially when you are a beginner. Given that you want to make the most out of your investment, it makes sense that you want to take your take with the standalone factors that we have sorted out for you in this guide. This article should give you all the individual aspects that you need to consider before purchasing gold bars.